Daniil on Belgian Grand Prix

"The race itself was the only positive moment during these three days."

After having many technical issues during all three practice sessions, Dany finished 12th in Spa. That's what he had to say after the race in Belgium last weekend.

— Daniil, giving the circumstances the race in Spa turned out to be quite good.

— Yes, you can say that. The race itself was the only positive moment during these three days. Before that, we had many issues, which were quite odd. At the end of the day, the only way we could resolve them was to change the power unit completely after it shut down itself on Saturday morning. It wasn't the easiest situation so that we couldn't prepare ourselves for the qualifying and the race. Then during first few laps on Sunday, I figured a few things out and the rest of the race we managed to be very consistent. All in all, it went quite well: our pace was good, we managed our tires well and were able to fight. Of course, when you start the race being one or two steps behind you have to compromise certain things strategy wise, and it didn't play in our favor also. So 12th place is the maximum we could achieve given the circumstances. I could have been closer to top-10 but stuck behind Sergio Perez after the restart.

— How did he manage to get in front?

— We are still yet to analyze it with the team and will look at the available videos, but I have a feeling that he overtook me before the safety car line at the restart. We will return to this moment before Monza.

— Those problems you had during practice sessions had similar nature?

— Yes, to some extent. We had an issue with the power unit but wanted to avoid getting a penalty, because we thought we had a chance to fight for points that weekend. It wasn't a part of our plan to change the engine before the race, but in the end, that was the only option. So we had to accept the penalty, which effectively would send us any way to the back of the grid.

— What is the most positive outcome of the weekend in Belgium?

— There were a few positive things. First of all, I managed to have a good start and overtake some cars. The whole first lap was good, and then, when I had a clear track ahead of me during the race the car was pleasing to drive. It gives us a reason to remain optimistic ahead of the next races.

— You managed to stay close to your team mate, who had a pretty clean weekend. How pleasing is that?

— That's not the first thing I pay attention to. Again, if I didn't get stuck behind Perez after the restart, I would have been closer to top-10. I don't want to tell that I would score points by all means, but we had a chance at least to fight for it. It did not happen, so it's pointless to discuss if we would end up in top-10 eventually, but being in such position after such a difficult weekend is quite satisfying.

— What are your plans ahead of Italian Grand Prix?

— I am now at the factory in Faenza. It's good to have a chance to speak to the engineers about what happened last weekend and discuss our plans. I have an opportunity to meet guys, who work at the factory, which is also good. We have many things scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday here because the next race is a home race for the team. Many people will come to the track as it's quite close to the factory. The next race is quite important for Toro Rosso.